Vernongop Editor's Note: Libertyville/Vernon Hills H.S.Dist. 128 message to students: We determine which of your behaviors and Internet speech are appropriate, not you, your parents, or society. Reporter Andrew Wang reports in a Chicago Tribune story today that Libertyville/Vernon Hills High School District 128 is considering the adoption of rules that would make students subject to disciplinary action including suspension of extracurricular activity privileges for items they post on blogs or Internet websites like MySpace.com.
 
On its face, this action sets up High School District 128 as the final arbiter of student speech and behavior, even outside of the school day and the school grounds. District 128 also seeks to extend authority to itself for the enforcement of behavior standards that control and affect students' lives 24/7. By what authority does the school district seek to set such standards that would restrict student expression and control recreational and social behavior? How does the District propose to enforce such rules in an even-handed and meaningful way?

The Internet is a very big 'place' and affords a multitude of opportunities for behaviors and speech the District could no-doubt find unacceptable. Perhaps the District could enlist the co-operation of Internet search engines and web hosting companies in its efforts to police the Internet as some governments have done. One wonders how comfortable the District Internet speech/behavior regulation authority will be when it finds itself in the company of repressive governments like China and Saudi Arabia as it seeks to restrict and control student expression.

It sounds to this writer like the District administrators should spend a few weeks in one of the District's own History or Civics classes studying the U.S. Constitution, particularly the First Amendment. That is, assuming that the District curriculum still includes these important lessons about our how the Constitution protects our freedoms and exercise of fundamental rights.

One wonders when school administrators will simply remove the students from their parents' custody altogether and impose their own totalitarian child-rearing agenda. How many parents are ready to abrogate their parental authority to the government education industry by allowing this intrusion into their children's lives and personal expression to go unchallenged?

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District takes aim at teens' Web posts

Schools say MySpace within their space too

By Andrew L. Wang
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 18, 2006

 

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